


The War of Change

by ADyingFlower



Series: Bright Lights, Loud Sounds [1]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Breaking and Entering, Families of Choice, Gen, Good Days, Homelessness, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, On the Run, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-20
Updated: 2014-07-20
Packaged: 2018-02-09 14:32:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1986528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ADyingFlower/pseuds/ADyingFlower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Wait!</p>
<p>It's Just About To Break,</p>
<p>It's More Than I Can Take,</p>
<p>Everything's About To Change.</p>
<p>I Feel It in My Veins,</p>
<p>It's Not Going Away!"</p>
            </blockquote>





	The War of Change

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this is the start of a new series! It will be focused on Jack, Jamie, and other homeless kids in modern day america. All the titles will be names of songs, and the summary song lyrics! Listen to it Nightcore!

"You thinking of something deep, Jamie-boy?"

Jamie turned his head from his spot on top of the abandoned warehouse. They were in Florida for the winter, much warmer than the usual Boston or Maine. For that, he was thankful. New England's winters were hell.

"Not really," He commented lazily, letting his feet swing, hearing the rhythmic tap each time his sole met the stone. 

Jack took a seat next to him, one foot dangling while the other crossed. His hair was brown for now, a cigarette dangling from his mouth that looked like it was picked up from the ground.

"Soph better yet?" Jack asked; letting a ring of smoke float from his mouth. Jamie watched, hypnotized, as it faded in the air.

"No, but she'll be fine. Just a bad cold. If she's not, I'll take her to that doctor, the one with all the sleep meds?" Jamie smiled at Jack. He didn't want the man to spend any of their savings on taking her to the doctors. If that happened, then they would be questioned, then social work would get involved, and then it would be a huge hassle.

"She's your little sis, think she might have some meds in that bag of her's?" Jack tapped the cigarette.

Jamie shrugged. "Maybe. I don't look anymore after last time she threaten to burn my winter clothes. She's a bit of a hoarder."

The older brunette laughed. "That she is. Remind me to have a hair-cutting day soon, she can't see anything through those bangs of hers." The man swooped low, sliding a hand under Jamie's bangs and holding them up. "You do too. Damn Bennetts, ever since I took the two of you in I have to have a hair cuttin' day least once a month."

"Not my fault!" He shoved Jack. The latter laughed again, stubbing his cigarette out.

"We should get headin' north soon. South too spread out for my liking." Jack turned serious. Jamie felt a pang in his chest. Moving north or south was not only a hassle, but very tiring. Hitchhiking from car to car, stealing, and not staying any where for more than one night for weeks was extremely painful. And with Sophie sick, that only got ten times worse.

"I'm thinking of train hopping. A bit bruise-worthy, but a lot less tiring than car-hijacking." Jack suggested without a glance over to Jamie. He felt his lips turn up slightly. Jack always knew what to say.

They sat their in silence for a little while, The noon sun shining down on their heads.

"Did you hear anything about-" Jack cut him off.

"No," The man shook his head. "Believe me, if I heard anything you would be the first to know."

The ten year old sighed, going back to kicking his legs.

"Don't know why you keep asking 'bout that bastard." Jack commented off-handily.

Jamie spun in his seat. "Don't say that!"

"Why?" Jack turned to him, brown eyes dead serious. "He was a bastard who beat you. The same bastard who killed your mother. The same bastard who gave you these." He reached over, his fingers trailing over the scars on his back through the thin material of the shirt. "The same bastard who you only ran away from when he got a little too handsy with Sophie."

Jamie trembled, his hands grasping tightly at his pants. "Please stop," He croaked. "The nightmares are bad enough at it is."

He shrugged, wiping his hands on the back of his pants before standing up. "We all have them, Jamie-boy. They don't get better."

And with that, he left.

-

Jack could be a bit harsh, but he owed everything to that man, so he couldn't complain. Jack took him in when him and Sophie were barely surviving on the streets.

He takes in a bunch of homeless kids or kids who are struggling at home. Everyone on the streets want to be picked by him, kind of like an infamous celebrity. He offers free protection and safety. You still have to steal food and sleep in abandoned buildings and such, but everyone knows not to mess with you. Not unless they want a bullet between the eyes.

Jamie was lucky, he knows that. At the rate he and Sophie were going, he was contemplating dropping Sophie at a church's doorstep. She was young enough to still get adopted, he was thinking at the time.

"Hair-cutting day!" Jack hollered, snapping him out of his thoughts. He was curled around Sophie in their sleeping bag, the sun barely over the horizon shining through the mucky windows.

As expected, the twins Claude and Caleb bolted out of their shared sleeping bag and toward the exit. But Jack was faster.

With a quick dive, he grabbed Claude with his left and Caleb with his right, dragging both of them by their shirt collars and plopping them on the piles of coats. Both twins shared a horrified look on their faces as Jack pulled out the scissors.

"Like usual, huh?" Cupcake asked, coming over by his left and sitting near Sophie's head. She was still asleep, but her fever broke last night.

"Yeah," Jamie smiled slightly. Today was one of the good days, were his stomach didn't ache as much and his cheeks weren't hollowed out. Sliding one hand down, he counted mentally every rib he could feel.

The other members of this little tribe, if you could call it that, were Pippa and Monty. Pippa had some abuse herself, rescued by Jack a little while back. All he really knew was that the reason she always wore hats, even when she was sleeping, was because she had some scar on her forehead she was really self-conscious about. Monty doesn't say anything, but he screams in his sleep. The next morning, he won't let anyone touch him until Jack talks to him.

The twins appeared after Jamie and Sophie did, both of them hugging a little girl around Sophie's age with ratty clothes and too thin bodies. Here's a hint; they didn't live on the streets. The four year old, The twins little sister, didn't stay with them. Jack took one look at her and said "She won't make it." and promptly checked her in at the hospital. They haven't heard of her since.

Cupcake is pretty mysterious as well. Cupcake isn't her real name, but when anyone asks her about that, her face darkens. To be truthful, Jamie was terrified when he first met her. But she's a real softie once you get to know her.

That leaves Jack. If you thought Cupcake was mysterious, you never talked with Jack for more than five minutes. No one knew his last name, where he is from, his natural hair color, or even if he's trustworthy or not. The only hint he had was the picture of the brown-haired girl he always carried around with him.

Jamie was snapped out of his thoughts when Jack turned to him with a sadistic grin on his face, scissors clotted with brown hair turned menacingly at him. 

_"Oh shit_ ," He whispered, jumping out of the sleeping bag and bolting, the twins staring at him sulkily with their hair cut horribly. 

Today was a good day. Tomorrow might be horrible, and the week might be something out of his worst nightmare, but that was okay. As long as he had his family everything was good.


End file.
